Was active in alumni affairs
Dr. Nicholas P.R. Spinelli, associate clinical professor of internal medicine
at Yale School of Medicine and a former director of alumni affairs there, died
on Nov. 30 after a lengthy period of disability. He was 86 years old.
T H I S
Spinelli, who held bachelor’s and medical degrees from Yale, was “known
to hundreds of fellow alumni as one of the school’s most devoted supporters” and
was “a generous supporter of medical education and scholarship aid to
students here,” said Medical School Dean Dr. Robert Alpern in a message
announcing Spinelli’s passing. “He will be greatly missed by his
colleagues in the Association of Yale Alumni in Medicine and throughout the medical school and university.”
Born on March 26, 1921, Spinelli was a resident of Milford, Connecticut, and
the son of the late Domenick and Gertrude Finaldi Spinelli. In 1937, at the
age of 16, he began a pre-medical curriculum at Yale, where he had been awarded
a four-year scholarship. He graduated in 1941 and was an honor graduate of
the Yale School of Medicine in 1944. During World War II, he served in the
U.S. Army as a neuropsychiatrist in Germany.
His medical career of more than six decades included nearly 20 years of community
service as an internist in Stratford, Connecticut. He subsequently became director
of medical education at Bridgeport Hospital, where he developed an active collaboration
with the Yale School of Medicine that included a program in pediatric medicine,
and active recruitment and training of medical practitioners and educators
from developing countries. Today scores of practicing physicians credit their
careers to his training and mentorship.
Spinelli retired from Bridgeport Hospital in 1985 and promptly immersed himself
in further medical education efforts as the director of alumni affairs at the
Yale School of Medicine. One of his primary interests was the well-being of
students, and early on he recognized the importance of scholarship aid. He
led his medical school class’ fundraising efforts as a class agent
and helped to establish the Class of 1944 Scholarship Fund, which supports
three students each academic year. He remained devoted to his classmates, keeping
them in touch over seven decades and making a film for their 50th reunion about
their experiences as medical students and members of Yale’s Company C
during World War II.
Spinelli served Yale as a member of the Dean’s Council, the National
Campaign Committee for the “… and for Yale” campaign, and
the Association of Yale Alumni executive committee, both as a member and as
the president.
The School of Medicine honored Spinelli with myriad awards, including the Distinguished
Alumni Service Award, the Peter Parker Medal and Yale’s highest alumni
honor, the Yale Medal. In 2000, in recognition of his service to Yale School
of Medicine and its alumni, the medical school’s alumni office was named
the Spinelli Office of Alumni Affairs. He continued to serve as an adviser
to that department until 2005.
Spinelli is survived by his sister, Viola Spinelli ’65 M.P.H., herself
a noted hospital administrator, with whom he lived for many years. He is also
survived by numerous cousins.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Dr. Nicholas P.R. Spinelli Scholarship
Fund at the Yale School of Medicine.
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Dr. Nicholas Spinelli, was active in alumni affairs
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Campus Notes
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